Vanilla Pear Loaf Cake 🍐

A beautiful autumn cake with whole poached-style pears baked right into a soft, buttery vanilla cake

Serves

7–8

Prep time

20 minutes

Bake time

Approximately 55–65 minutes

Ingredients

3 pears

113 g unsalted butter, softened

200 g granulated sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

5 g vanilla extract

125 g all-purpose flour

7 g baking powder

3 g salt

1 g baking soda

120 g buttermilk, room temperature

A little extra butter for greasing the pan

In my video i doubled the recipe

Method

1. Prepare the pears

Carefully peel the pears, keeping the stems intact. Trim a small amount from the bottom of each pear so they can stand upright. Set aside.

2. Prepare the pan

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line a 23 × 13 cm loaf pan with baking parchment, leaving some parchment hanging over the sides to make the cake easier to lift out. Lightly butter the parchment.

3. Mix the dry ingredients

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

4. Cream the butter and sugar

Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3–4 minutes.

5. Add the eggs and vanilla

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.

6. Add the flour and buttermilk

Gradually add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk. Begin and finish with the dry ingredients. Mix just until the batter comes together—don't overmix.

7. Arrange the pears

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Carefully place the three pears upright into the batter, spacing them evenly.

8. Bake

Bake for 55–65 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted into the cake portion comes out clean. If the top starts browning too quickly, loosely cover it with aluminium foil.

9. Cool and serve

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before carefully lifting it out. Let it cool further on a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or a light dusting of icing sugar.

✨ Kitchen Fairy Tip

For the prettiest result, choose pears that are similar in size and ripe but still firm. The stems left intact make this simple loaf look wonderfully special—perfect for an autumn table. 🍐